Attachment for screw drivers



Oct. 16, 1934. J. c. MORGAN 1,977,323

ATTACHMENT FOR SCREW DRIVERS Filed May 10, 1930 f/Wf/WOR Jo/m C 772 mm($548 Mffozvzqy.

Patented Get. 16, 1934 UNFTED STATES OFFICE 1 Claim.

This invention relates to an attachment for screw drivers whereby ascrew is securely held in relation to a screw driver while the screw isbeing started in position.

An object of the invention is to provide a screw holding attachment forscrew drivers and which attachment may be conveniently and securelyattached to, and removed from the shank of screw drivers now on themarket and which while it is required for use will remain securely inthe operative position, but which may, nevertheless, be

easily and quickly removed from the shank of the tool when its use is nolonger required.

An object is to provide an attachment for a screw driver which has asuperior screw engaging portion which may be depended upon to hold thescrew driver slot therein in proper alignment and engagement with thescrew driver blade at the beginning of the operation of screwing thesame down as required and which may be so connected with the screwdriver as to be readily removed so that it will be out of the way topermit the screw to be screwed completely into place.

Another object is to provide an attachment of the character stated whichmay be readily stamped out of sheet metal and can therefore, bemanufactured at a very low cost.

Another object is to provide a screw holding attachment for screwdrivers which is adapted to be manufactured from a single piece of sheetmetal or wire and which will, therefore, be of such a simple andsubstantial character that it can be used for a long time withoutbreaking or in any way becoming unfit for use.

Simplicity, cheapness and ease of operation are other objects andadvantages.

A further object is to provide a novel attachment for screw drivers nowin common use whereby a screw may be steadied for initially starting thescrew in the mamrial to which it is to be applied, without requiring anychange or modification to the screw driver itself.

Other objects, advantages, and features of invention may appear from theaccompanying drawing, the subjoined detail description and the appendedclaim.

Referring to the accompanying drawing which illustrates the invention insome of the forms that I at present deem preferable.

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a screw driver showing the attachmentsecured thereto in position for use, a screw being shown in dotted linesto indicate the operative relation of the screw driver and attachmentthereto.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation taken at right angles to Fig. 1, the handleand upper portion of the shank of the screw driver being broken away tocontract the view.

Fig. 3 is a cross section on line w-a, Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a perspective enlarged detail view of co. the attachment shownin Figs. 1 and 2.

Fig. 5 is a perspective enlarged detail View of a modification of theattachment wherein the same is formed from a single piece of wireinstead of from sheet metal.

Referring in detail to the drawing and describing first the form ofinvention shown in Figs. 1, 2, 3 and 4 inclusive, the attachment Aconsists of a body portion 7, a bifurcated foot portion 8 and an upperor head portion 9, the latter being 70. provided with suitable securingmeans in the form of a pair of co-operating resilient arms 10 adapted toclamp between them the shank 11 of the screw driver 12.

Said spaced arms 10 are each curved inwardly toward the other, theirouter edges normally being spaced apart a distance considerably lessthan the diameter of the shank 11 of the screw driver, so that when theyare forced over the screw driver shank, they are firmly sprungthereagainst, thus preventing the attachment from being accidentallydisplaced during use.

When the attachment is made of sheet metal, the body portion 7 thereofwill desirably taper somewhat from the foot portion 8 toward the 5 head9 thereof. By thus forming the attachment, the foot portion 8 may bemade sufiiciently Wide to provide ample room for a screw engaging recess14 with which it is provided. The recess 14 is of a sufiicient depth andwidth to receive the screw shank and to permit the head of a screw whenpositioned therein, to come into contact with the adjacent end portionof the body of the attachment, so that the workmen may more effectivelycontrol the position of the screw while he is using the tool. At eachside of the recess 14, the outer sides of the arms or fingers b of thefoot portion 8 are preferably rounded as at 15 thus adapting it to beinserted into a relatively narrow space if necessary to engage the shank10 of a screw 16 which is to be operated upon by the bit or blade 17 ofthe screw driver. Said foot portion 8 is bent up at a substantiallyright angle with relation to the body portion '7 of the attachment andis directed toward the same side thereof 5 as the pair of arms 10 at theother end of the attachment. This arrangement of the parts adds to theconvenience of manufacture, because the foot portion 8 and arms 10 maybe bent out from the body portion 7 of the attachment by the samemovement or stroke of a die. The body portion 7 is preferably concavedso as to add to the rigidity thereof.

In Fig. 5 is shown a modification of the attachment wherein the same ismade entirely from a single piece of wire. In this form of the inventionthe two end portions of the wire are for a considerable distance,twisted upon each other, thus forming the shank or body portion 20 ofthe attachment, the free end portions of the wire forming theco-operative arms 21 which engage opposite sides of the screw with whichit is to be used. These feet 21 are as in the form first described,directed outwardly from the body portion 20 at substantially rightangles thereto. At the other end of the body portion 20, the wire isbent in such a manner as to form the attaching head 25 which correspondsto the attaching head 9 of the modification first described. In formingsaid head 25, the middle portion of the wire is bent to form anoutwardly C-shaped curve 28, the cusps of this curve being at each sidejoined to a straight wire run 29 and each of these wire runs 29 beinglikewise joined to a corresponding 0- shaped curve 30 at that side ofthe device. The space between the parallel wire runs 29 is considerablyless than the diameter of the shank of a screw driver for which theattachment is intended, in order that when sprung into place upon theshank, it may be depended upon to remain in operative position. In theform of the invention just described, the wire runs 29 together with theend portions of the curves 28 and 30, constitute spring arms or fingerswhich function similarly to the resilient arms 10 of the form firstdescribed.

The feet 21 in the wire form of the device should be spaced apart fromeach other so as to properly fit the screw, the space between these feetbeing substantially the same as the space across the recess 14 in thefoot portion of the sheet metal form of the device.

The operation of the device is illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2 where theattachment is shown in proper position for holding steady the shank ofthe screw, for example a wood screw, while being operated upon by thescrew driver. The position shown in said Figures 1 and 2 is that whichthe appliance will ordinarily assume when a screw is associatedtherewith for use or when screwed down near to its head in the materialto which it is being applied. After the screw has been inserted asufficient distance to steady itself, the operator pulls upwardly on thescrew driver and the attachment will slide upon the screw driver shank11 by reason of the arms I) engaging under the screw head. The screwdriver and attachmentare then moved to one side so as to free the footportion 8 from under the screw head and then the attachment may he slidupwardly on the shank 11 or completely removed so that it will notinterfere with further operations in screwing the screw toits desiredposition.

The arms forming the head portions 9 or 25 will engage the shank of thescrew driver to frictionally secure said head portion to the screwdriver shank in any position to which said attachment may be slid alongsaid screw driver shank.

From what has been said with regard to the operation of the form of theinvention shown in Figs. 1 to 4, inclusive, the operation of themodified form thereof will be readily understood.

I claim:

A screw holding attachment for screw drivers, wholly formed of wire,comprising a driver-shankembracing spring portion, a shank-parallelingportion of twisted wire and a screw holding portion, formed from thefree ends of the wire, said ends being formed as cusps directedsubstantially at right angles to the twisted wire portion, said cuspsbeing adapted to straddle a screw shank.

JOHN C. MORGAN.-

